Illegal
by Koffee XYZ
Summary: James is deliriously happy. He'd just achieved something(one) no one had ever dreamed he would ever achieve. But it's a full moon that night, and tonight, everything that can go wrong, will. (In which Lily Evans encounters some illegal animagi.)


_Disclaimer: I do not own any of this. Woe is me._

Winter at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had truly arrived. The ground was caked with a thick layer of snow that crunched satisfyingly when stepped on, and the lake had become a smooth, sleek sheet of ice, the wind howled fiercely through cracks and crevices, and, if you dared get close enough to tell, you would find that even the Whomping Willow was shivering in the frosty weather. Inside, however, the atmosphere was definitely different.

If one were to, on impulse, decide to take a tour of Hogwarts Castle, climb a few staircases, slip through some tapestry-hidden passages, and say the correct thing to a certain oversized opera-singer, they would find themselves inside the marvelous, gold and crimson, and decidedly cozy Gryffindor Common Room, shuttered tight against the miserable winter weather that buffeted the castle walls. Yeah, the Gryffindor Common Room. –which, incidentally, was where a certain seventeen-year-old Mr. James Potter happened to be right now.

For lack of better terms, James was in a complete daze. He had, for a while now, been sprawled comfortably on one of the numerous squashy leather armchairs, staring off into space with a kind of goofy look on his face. Yep, he was most certainly completely, deliriously, happy. Why, might one ask, would James be quite so idiotically happy? Simple enough; _she said yes_.

What more could a person possibly hope for? _Lily, Lily, Lily_, his mind lilted to him in a kind of singsong tone as though mocking him. Hot that he cared. Nope, he had been grinning stupidly at the ceiling for quite some time, running a hand surreptitiously through his jet-black hair.

Yes, the world was a truly friendly place. _Nothing _could go wrong now.

Sirius Black trudged on through the deep snow, breathing in the cold air. It was the afternoon – he was nervous, though, because tonight was one of those nights. What kind of night, you ask? Why, that's none of your business. The young, handsome boy walked into the castle, flicking his wand so he became dry again, and walked up the stairs.

He hadn't seen James all day – or Remus, for that matter. And today he needed to see Remus – today was that time of the month. Well, okay, you can know...tonight was a full moon. Yes, to most that means nothing, but to a group of four mischievous Gryffindor boys? ...It was everything. Except for one boy – Lily Evans was everything to him (cough JAMES cough). Sirius muttered to the portrait and hopped into the common room, where he say James. "OY! PRONGS!" he called, trying to get James out of that weird lovesick trance. "D'you know what it is tonight?" Sirius whispered into his friend's ear, sitting down besides him. "And where's Moony? I though you were going to watch him..." To any outsider, this would be just a comedic joke, but not to these two.

"Hmmmm?" James lifted his head, smiling lazily. "'Ello there, don't need to shout, ya know." His smile drooped a little at the mention of their friend and his 'condition'. "Damn, I forgot! Er.. I mean, yeah...hi?"

"Watch me?" Remus looked up from reading the notice board – or, at least it looked like he had been reading it. Usually, one looks up to read a notice board. Remus was looking down, again half-asleep on his feet. But this statement had awoken him. "Watch me?" he repeated. "I can watch myself." He proudly went back to reading the board. "You do know what tonight is, right?" he asked boredly.

Sirius looked at Remus, motioning him closer. "Yup...stay with me, okay Remus?" He looked at James. "How's it going with Lily?" With a mischievous grin, Sirius snickered slightly, then looked over at Remus, "She said yes," he explained, in case Remus didn't know.

Remus could not quite put his finger on it, but he felt different when the full moon neared... and soon after it had passed. Like he didn't know himself... his friends... anything. He felt tired - well, that wasn't exactly new - but violent, so violent, rabid, icy and unfeeling. He tried to calm this, but it kept bursting to the surface. This, he knew, was what some called madness.

"Say what? Who said yes? She?" he asked, "hm?" He had almost drifted off again. _Must think pleasant thoughts..._ he urged himself. _Must think waking, sunny, HUMAN thoughts... I have to stay awake here, mustn't make them think there's something wrong..._

But there was. And he knew it... and they knew it...

And it was coming...

James grinned fiendishly. "What d'you think, Padfoot? It's only been about twenty minutes, there's not very much even _I _could do to mess it up in _that _period of time." Now, to more important matters. "You alright, Moony?" Yeah, it was a redundant question, but still.. common courtesy, people.

Sirius looked at Remus and frowned. "Remus, mate...you alright?" He stood, leaving lovesick James there, and walked over to his friend. "Is it starting, already?" he muttered, in a whisper to him. Didn't it normally begin a bit later? Sirius looked outside. It was getting to be pretty dark. He dragged Remus to a chair and made him sit.

"I'm fine!" Remus persisted, trying to get up, but finding himself held. Bad, bad; the sensor in his head went off. Restraint. Bad. Must - get - out. "Let go of me!" Remus yelled, growling. "Let go!" He tried, again and again but to no avail, to get up. He finally stopped, panting, lying flat against the back of the chair, eyes tapered.

"Let - go."

Sirius looked at James. "Should we go.. now?" he muttered. "Remus, mate, stay still, or else I'll have to hex you." With a glare, Sirius took one hand and brought it to his robes. "I'm serious." He glared at Remus. Sigh. He can't think straight... Sirius tried to tell himself.

James stood up rather quickly, striding over to where Remus and Sirius were. He looked at Sirius, muttering, "Is it that time?" They had to get him out of the castle soon, either way. Imagining what would happen if they didn't made him feel slightly sick to his stomach.

Remus grumbled something inaudible to himself. "Leave me the bloody hell alone." He growled, scowling. The hair on his back prickled. He knew it was coming. He needed to get out. Now. Why was he being so cross to his friends? He couldn't help it. He wasn't talking- someone, or some_thing_ else was talking.

A young girl was sitting outside leaning against an old Sycamore tree gazing out on the lake, which was now frozen solid. In fact, it was so solid a few of the students had decided to go skating and she stared outside her gaze affixed on the view in front of her. Even though she was looking at them, she was actually thinking, so even though she saw them she wasn't actually aware of her setting. Alas, what was this young girl thinking about? Or, who _was_ she? Well, sitting deadly still was none other then our ravishing Ms. Lily Evans. Now what was she thinking? Well, she was wondering why she had said yes to James after all of these years. He was just so...persistent one might say. Was it because young Mr. Potter had actually dare I say _matured_ and _grew up_? Did Lily have secret liking for the one student she had attempted to avoid for the past six and a half years? Did she pity him? These thoughts swirled around in her head mixing in with each other and entwining together as she wondered for about the hundredth time why she had agreed to go out with him. Ah, it was rather perplexing for the young adult. A snowball, which had hit her head, managed to interrupt her thoughts.

"What the --?" she said as a young first year Hufflepuff stared at her horrified, "It-it-it was an accident! I swear!" he said mortified, "Am-am-am I in trouble?" he asked her she shook her head in answer and he scuttled along to his group of friends; who were laughing at the poor boy.

Lily couldn't help but smile and the cold weather had finally caught up with her and her brain told her to go inside for even though she remembered a coat it was freezing. Lily was decked out in her standard Hogwarts uniform, the black pants, a white button up shirt, the orange and red Gryffindor tie, the Hogwarts Robes with a gleaming 'Head Girl' badge on it located not to far from the emblem of the Gryffindor Lion and her thick brown winter jacket. A gloved hand moved through her fiery red hair attempting to get the remnants of the snowball out of her head. She pushed herself up and walked through the large wooden doors leading into the Great Hall and a few corridors and three flights of stairs later she found herself staring at the Fat Lady.   
"My your cheeks are red," The Fat Lady said in her high voice. "Bowtruckles," she replied as the portrait door swung open and Lily climbed through and found herself in the Gryffindor Common room not really noticing anyone as she seated herself on a red velvet armchair in front of the fire attempting to warm herself up.

James shook his head pityingly. This happened so often now, and yet it came as a surprise every time. So much that he didn't even notice his own _girlfriend _enter the room. "C'mon Moony, you're out of your mind."

Sirius nodded to James. "Help me take him, then." Taking one of Remus's arms, he heaved it over his shoulder. "C'mon, mate," he muttered. "Help me out here." He glanced over at James, and then something caught his eye. A pretty red head- oh great. As long as James didn't see, it was all good... tough luck.

Lily's emerald eyes darted off as she heard his voice, "Oh hello James..." she said tentatively.

A growl escaped the boy's vocals. His teeth began to get sharper. His inner self came back for a mere second. "Hurry, help!" he whispered frantically, before growling menacingly again. Hatred flooded his greyish occuli, his pale face getting paler by the second.

"Not _now_, Evans!" James snapped, using her last name by habit as he lent Remus his shoulder. "Come on, mate, nice and easy, now..." Even as he said these comforting words, he stole a very worried glance indeed at Sirius.

"Bloody hell..." Sirius muttered, and without even waiting for James (he heard Lily talk to him) he heaved out Remus from the common room. He poked his head in. "James, grab the cloak!" he hissed to his friend, and then hurried down the stairs. He and Remus then reached the outside, and Sirius dragged the transforming Remus to the Whomping Willow.

James nodded tersely, not caring much for appearances at the moment. "Accio cloak!" he called, dashing down the stairs after Sirius.

When James caught up to them, he threw the invisibility cloak at Sirius, now looking quite worried. Right in front of everyone, they'd left right in front of everyone...

Remus snapped at Sirius, a low grumble emitting from his throat. "Lemme go!" He said angrily, thrashing around.

As they approached the Willow, Sirius, protectively under the coat, called to James, "Get under the cloak, mate, and change!" He then changed into Sirius-dog. Sneakily he hurried to the willow and pushed down the root, the passage opening.

Remus sprang into the Whomping Willow. It was coming... Pain.. Pain.. Pain seared through his whole body. But this surge of pain was only a tester. Then the real stuff came. He screamed in terror, his eyes widening. And then, a howl. And then, Remus growled, in werewolf form.

"Right." James hurriedly pulled the cloak over himself, vanishing momentarily. When the cloak came off, James was replaced by the magnificent white stag, which was pawing the ground nervously.

Sirius-dog bit at the werewolf's heels, making him tumble down the tunnel. He motioned for the stag to follow, and he hurried down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack himself. He barked in aggravation, nudging the werewolf to get down. Leaping in front, the dog grabbed random peice of skin and dragged.

Lily slowly opened the side door that led to the Forbidden Forest. She drew her auburn hair out of her face and stiffened as she heard a sound. A scream. A howl. A werewolf. Oh, dear. She bit her lip and closed the door. She needed to find out what was happening. Where James and Sirius and Remus went every night.

Lily slowly walked forward, her feet thudding on the ground. She saw a dog disappear into the.. Whomping Willow? What? This couldn't be possible! But it was there, she could see it's back foot. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh.

Prongs glanced across the grounds once, furtively, before squeezing down into the tunnel, catching his antlers painfully on the earthen ceiling. A corner of the stag's mind awakened, saying to him, 'Damn, I'll _never _get in here without hitting my head', but it seemed very far off, like from underwater. To the stag, the only thing that was real was the snapping, snarling creature in front of him.

Lily walked forward to the Whomping Willow. Step. Stop. Step. Stop. She moved forward ever so slowly, stopping when she came to where the Willow's branches extended. She ducked down into the tree, narrowly missing being hit by branch. She put one foot down, closed her eyes, and slid into the hole.

Once the dog, stag, and werewolf had tumbled down into the Shrieking Shack, the dog hurried off the side, leaving the werewolf now to destroy and stuff. The big, black dog watched as the struggling Stag managed to get it and he barked at it. He hoped that the stag understood - make sure no one has followed us.

Lily spotted a glimpse of something go down before her. "Lily Marie Evans. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into." she whispered. Too late now... a voice inside her head reminded. She slowly crawled down the hole, hearing something like the clop of hooves in front of her.

The stag bowed its head in understanding, turning towards the tunnel out of which they had just come. None must follow.

After only a few steps forward, the stag's ears perked upwards, having heard something--was it a whisper? Prongs stood stock-still, staring outwards, waiting. There was nothing to it; he would simply have to charge at whomever had been foolish enough to follow.

Lily slid down the rest of the tunnel slowly and quietly. She opened her eyes when she got to the end and examined herself. "I'm okay." she reminded herself. She got up. It seemed to be some sort of shack.

She walked forward slowly into the shack, the floorboards creaking sadly under her. She turned as she heard a noise. Another howl. Oh, dear. A bark, a clop of hooves. What was going on? Was it like an animal convention or something? She shook her head. No, it couldn't be. And where were Sirius and James, and Remus? Lily shivered. She really would like one of them to be with her right now....

The dog rounded the werewolf, trying to keep it in a corner. The werewolf could not possibly hurt him - so he felt safe. Growling at the werewolf, the black dog padded right, then left, then right, trying to stop the werewolf from escaping.

The stag's eyes widened in astonishment at the girl. No, she couldn't be here, she had to leave. A very large part of his mind screamed at him not to scare the girl or there'd be trouble, but the rest told him that it would be even worse if she stayed.

Steeling himself, aiming to scare, not harm, the stag lowered his head, leveling his antlers directly at the girl's chest, and charged.

The werewolf began howling, and clobbered everything insight. Seeing his pack mate, he howled in joy, and bounded over, growling fondly.

Lily's eyes widened. A stag! A stag! A dog and a wolf. What could she do, a stag was charging! What did you do? Run away? Stand still. Lily did all she could do. She curled up on the floor in a ball. She wasn't surer how this was going to help... "Good bye, world." she muttered to herself.

Stupid girl. Prongs stopped at the cowering girl's feet, exasperated, and somewhat panicked. He had to get her out, _now_. The stag lowered his head and nudged at her feet gently, trying to get her to stand. Didn't the girl understand that she needed to leave?

And, as all this was happening, the stag had to work extremely hard to keep the girl's scent from driving him mad. Why couldn't she just hurry up and _leave_?

Siriusdog barked happily at the werewolf. _Keep him happy, that'll work._ But he heard something. He turned around and saw the stag charging. _James! What's wrong with you!_ And he heard a voice... oh bloody hell. He walked backwards to the tunnel and barked up at them, showing the stag he knew someone was there.

Lily made a muffled screech. "Don't drag it out! Just kill me now!" she said dramatically. She had seen this somewhere... when animals attack. Her parents' favorite muggle show. They had to parade their prey before they killed it.

Siriusdog barked at the stag, hurrying up the tunnel halfway, scenting the girl.

Oh, no.

It was Lily. He knew that smell... even as a human, he knew that smell. He barked eagerly at her, trying to get her to get out. He nudged her slightly.

The werewolf sniffed. Human. Human good. Kill Human. Remus bounded to where Lily and James were. The werewolf howled, advancing on Lily, licking his lips.

Lily screamed again. Now a dog. The dog and the stag both wanted to kill her. Wonderful. They would rip her apart or something! She put her head in her hands. "I love you mum. And you too, Dad. And James... I'm sorry." she choked out. "I love you too. And Sirius and Remus." Lily's eyes started filling up.

The dog barked at the stag, hoping that the stag would go back and stop the werewolf. Lily would be less afraid of a big-ol' puppy. Sirius hurried to Lily, nudging her, pulling on her shirt. "Arff!" he barked, trying to get her up the tunnel. "Arrffff!"

The James-part of Prongs was extremely exasperated at Lily's...oh, what would you call it.... melodrama, and continued to nudge her foot. 'Move, woman!' his mind screamed, as he tried to move her up off the ground. He was helpless; there was nothing he could do.

Panicked, the stag left Lily to Padfoot and rounded on the wolf, baring his teeth protectively. _That_, the wolf would understand.

Sirius sighed. Lily thought they wanted to eat her. Sirius nudged James to go stop the werewolf and leaned over Lily, licking her face happily, wagging his tail. "Arf!" he barked cheerfully. _Now get a move on!_

"Mum, Dad, and Petunia. I love my family. And I'll see you if I live. And James. I love you too. I'm sorry I was so stupid. And Sirius, even though you're such a git, you're still one of my best friends. And Remus, I hope you become an auror." Somehow Lily hoped by repeating this over and over, one of them would come save her. Little did she know...

Lily sat up. Why was the dog licking her? Maybe it was tame! But what about the Stag? Maybe it was a veterinary type place! She could go find the veterinarian and they would help her figure it all out! Lily sighed with relief and stood up. "Thank you, doggy! You've really helped me. Now where's your owner?" she asked.

Sirius barked happily as Lily spoke, then continued to wag his tail, pant happily, and lick Lily's face, _You are soooo thick, do you know that? _he thought. He nudged her foot with his nose, trying to get her to leave the tunnel.

Lily stood up, smiling happily. She rubbed the dog's head and walked near the doors where the noise was coming from. She didn't want to disturb the operation, but she really needed to get out of here. Dumbledore would probably be pretty annoyed. But she could explain. "Ish dish where your owner ish, doggy?" she asked in a baby voice.

Remus whimpered. He lunged for Lily, teeth bared.

Lily opened the door and shrieked. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!!" she screeched. Lily slammed herself against the side of the door as the wolf missed her. "Ohmygodohmygod." she said again. What _was_ this place. Something was telling her it wasn't a veterinarians.

Sirius growled, lunging at the werewolf with all his might. With all his power, he knocked down the werewolf, holding it down. Lily, you MORON! He held down the werewolf...c'mon, Moony, don't kill Lily! Erm, bite her... James would hate that.

The stag, seeing the wolf's movements, threw himself bodily at the wolf, aiming to pin him to the wall of the tunnel. He breathed heavily, hooves scraping painfully on the floor with the effort.

The dog saw the stag's attack and hurried back to Lily. Now that she had seen the werewolf, would she get out?? He nudged her, barking, trying to get her to leave. _And please_ thought Sirius, _stop that cooing..._

Lily bit her lip, drawing blood. What was going on? Was this some kind of practical joke? If it was, it wasn't funny! Lily flinched and tried to move. Where would she go? These crazy animals would kill her wherever she went!

The dog barked, nudging her. _Come on, Lily, are you blind? The werewolf will bite you!_ Siriusdog gently bit her hand, pulling it to the tunnel, trying to get her to come.

"Omygodohmygodomygod..." she mumbled. She glanced at the dog. There was something familiar about him. She stared at his eyes... It reminded her of... Sirius!? "Sirius?!" Lily screeched. "Wha-wha-wah..." she blubbered. "What is-?" Lily couldn't get the words out of her mouth.

Sirius hopped out of the tunnel, barking for her to follow. When she was out - well, she already knew. "Arooo!" he cried to her. Come here, you silly human!

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Was this where those three had been going every full moon? It wasn't just a coincidence, was it. Lily tried to process all the thoughts coming in. No. No, this wasn't true.

Now that they were safely out of the tunnel, Sirius turned back into himself. Sweating and panting, he hurried to Lily, talking quietly. "You did not see this. You will go back to the castle and /never/ wander the grounds during full moon again. Understand?" He put his hands on her shoulder, nodding briefly, then turned into Siriusdog again, hurrying down the tunnel.

Lily stared after Sirius. What the bloody hell was going on here? Sirius was a dog... or was a dog Sirius? And who was that stag? Remus? And that werewolf? And what about Peter? Questions were spinning all over her head. She would wait for them, right here, Lily decided. She wasn't moving from the base of this willow. And the willow couldn't reach her here.

Sirius felt a bit bad for leaving her hanging like that - but only a bit. After all, she was the one who had left James in love-less-ness for years.

Lily put her head in her hands. She had been being to get killed tonight. She shook her head sadly. That was it. Tonight, she would tell James. She flinched. No, she couldn't. Yes, she could! the more aggressive side of Lily yelled.

The dog poked his head in the tunnel, and padded back in, barking. But he stopped. No, the human scent was still there. Damn, Lily! He ran back up the tunnel, growling at Lily. _Leave!_ he barked at her, his eyes narrowing.

Lily glared at Sirius. "No, I'm not. I'm staying right here, Black. You can't make me leave." she said defiantly. "And I have to tell James something..." she added quietly. "Now, go... stop the werewolf from killing everybody or whatever you were doing."

Sirius sighed, nipping at her heals. She just didn't get it, did she? He became human for a second and glared at her. "You really don't get it, do you? The werewolf knows your hear - he can smell you. Trust me, I know, I've been a canine before. We can't stop the werewolf if you're here." He sneered. "And James is busy stopping the werewolf from eating _you_, just to let you know."

He shook his head at her, became a doggie again, and ran back down the tunnel to help Jamsie-poo.

Lily sighed happily. "He's saving me?" she said quietly. Damn, now she sounded like a delusional 10 year old talking about some rock star. She didn't want James to have any more trouble with the werewolf... but she needed to talk to him! And if James wasn't the werewolf, what was he? And Remus? Remus couldn't be the werewolf. That was just stupid...

Remus snarled and tried to bite Jamesstag's antlers off. It wasn't working.

Sirius snickered at Lily's silliness. Obviously, not knowing anything made it seem more complicated, but it was kind of obvious who everyone was now.

Lily slumped down. Now she had a horrible headache from being bashed against that door. She closed her eyes and almost fell asleep, but pinched herself. What time was it now? How could James and Sirius do this?

He hurried over to the stag and werewolf, barking, trying to convince the werewolf not to go near the human. Silly werewolf!

Quite apart from hurting, the grating of tooth-against-antler created a terrible grinding sound that was really beginning to get on StagJames's nerves. Bracing his legs, he pushed forward, trying to use the antlers to form a sort-of cage. Wow, it was really hard to concentrate, with that human corner of his mind always speaking up. Even now, it was remarking dryly on what part of his human body would be affected by the marks on his antlers. Stupid, pointless, so typically _human_. The stag forced the thoughts away, forced away the memory of a scared and whimpering Lily saying that she had loved him, forced it all away, and pushed forward relentlessly at the mad wolf.

Siriusdog barked at the werewolf and the stag, leaping forward and knocking down the werewolf, leaving the stag free. Sirius hoped that James would grab this opportunity to talk to Lily, get her to leave, then come back.

Lily sighed and rubbed her eyes sleepily. She needed to talk to James. And Sirius. And Remus. Where were they? Still fighting that whack werewolf? She sighed and pick up a stub of grass and started twirling it in her fingers.

Prongs leapt free of the werewolf, having been relieved by Padfoot. He knew what to do; the smell of Lily still hung on the air maddeningly, though to him in a quite different way than it probably was to the wolf.

The stag dashed for the exit, catching his already-battered antlers on the roof of the tunnel several times as he went, but not slowing down.

When at last the stag was free of the tunnel, yep, there she was, Lily was simply standing there. Did she not understand the danger?

The stag immediately went to Lily's side, nudging her foot yet again. Of course he didn't want to reveal himself, he was after all, an _illegal _animagus.

Lily smiled at the stag. "Okay, look. James, is it you? Or Remus? Or Peter? Even though I can't see Peter like that... but anyway, which one is it?" Lily looked into Jamesstag eyes.

Siriusdog held down Remuswolf, barking at him to stay down. Ooohhhhh, he liked it a LOT better when the scent of human didn't fill the air. The big black dog held down the wolf, and found that it wasn't hard. Remuswolf wasted a lot of energy.

Lily stole a glace into the stag's eyes once more, her's narrowing with every passing second- "Peter Pettigrew, if your in there, I'll..." She stopped, not really knowing what she would do to whoever it was that transformed.

_To be continued..._


End file.
